School board to vote on electric repairs at Davis High

By Annie Mitchell,

BlueDevilHUB.com Editor-in-Chief–

The Davis Joint Unified School District will hold a special school board meeting on April 15 to vote on whether the “unexpected catastrophic electrical equipment failure” that disabled Davis High on April 8 qualifies as an emergency.

A unanimous board vote at 6 p.m. tomorrow, along with approval from Yolo County superindendent of schools Garth Lewis, would mean that the district could bipass the bidding process of securing a contract with an electric company.

Public Contract Code section 20113 allows school districts to approve a contract immediately “when repairs, alterations, work, or improvements are necessary to avoid danger to life or property, or to permit the continuance of existing school classes.”

District staff are considering three different contracts and are working to approve the cheapest one.

DHS will need a replacement bus duct, which is an alternative to power cables that is used to conduct large amounts of electricity. The DJUSD estimates that this apparatus will cost $124,300 plus another $50,000 for time and materials.

The auxiliary generator that is currently powering the school costs $42,000 each week and will remain on campus for around a month.

The district will cover these costs with restricted facilities and maintanence funds. “Staff is researching potential insurance coverage to mitigate these costs,” tomorrow’s school board agenda reads.

The district reamins unsure when, or if, DHS will add on another day to the school year to make up the lost classtime. “On the waiver from the state, that estimated approval date is still nebulous as we still don’t have confirmation about our smoke day from November,” DJUSD public information officer Maria Clayton said.